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In the early years, the school was named "The Margaret Eaton School of Literature and Expression". During this time, founder Emma Scott Raff acted as principal of the school, which offered courses in literature, rhetoric, drama, language, elocution, and physical education. The Margaret Eaton School produced teachers of expression, public readers, interpreters of drama on the professional stage, workers in the YWCA, and teachers of physical education. By 1925, the enrolment in the Department of Literature and Dramatic Art had greatly decreased and the dramatic art program was closed. The school reopened under the name "The Margaret Eaton School". Emma Scott Raff Nasmith retired from the school at this time.

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Mary Hamilton began at The Margaret Eaton School in 1910 as Head of Physical Education. In 1926, she became the new principal and changed the school's focus to provide professional preparation for women in physical education by offering a two-year physical education program. Classes included anatomy, hygiene, posture, first aid, and practice teaching. It provided the most comprehensive program of physical education instruction in Canada until 1941.

Hamilton believed that camping was an important new development in the field of physical education for girls. Her students spent September in Huntsville at Camp Tanamakoon, receiving instruction in riding, archery, canoeing, sailing, swimming, and much more. Many graduates worked at the YWCA, and as camp counselors, camp directors, and teachers in private schools.

Despite the MES's comprehensive program, the Ontario College of Education would not accredit the school's graduates to teach in public secondary schools without first attending the Ontario College of Education. This blocked graduates of The Margaret Eaton School from many teaching positions.